Electric furnace.



UNITED srAirEs 4'ratr'iiu.fr ferries."

arrasar E. GREENE, E frUEB'Lo, coLortnno.

ELECTRIC E UENACE.

Toall whom t may concern r Be it known that I, ALBERT E. GREENE, a citizen of the United States, 'residing' at Pueblo, in the county of Pueblo and State ofl Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Furnaces,-

' of which the following is a specification.-

My invention relates to improvements in electric shaft furnaces for continuous reduction of ores and the object of my invention is to provide such'a furnace with a bosh for sustaining the weight of the charge,

and a smelting 'chamber beneath the bosh,

in which the heat for reducing the charge can be electricallyv developed and applied in a particularly advantageous manner.

It is the further object of my ivention to so arrange such smelting chamber that the electrodes projecting thereinto are protected from contact with the unreduced charge, -and to provide means for maintaining the level of the slag bath formed therein, so that the slag shall act as a resistor in a manf ner to be later described.

'I attain these objectsl bythe construction illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings in which- Figure l is a sectional elevation o f my furnace. Fig. 2' is a sectional plan view on the line 2-2 o f'Fig. 1.' Fig. 3 isza sectional end elevation of amodified form of furnace and Fig. 4 a front view, partly in sectionof the form of furnace shown in Fig.` 3.

The furnace shown in the accompanying drawings is intended for the continuous re-V duction and smelting of ores, and resembles in construction blast furnaces used for that purpose. Like such furnaces, it consists of a casing shaft forminga continuous chamber having a restriction or bosh near its end, which opens directly, in the nature of a feed hopper, into the upper central-portion of a smelting chamber, the charge progressing continuously through the furnace as the material is fed in at the top and the metalwithdrawn at the bottom, the upper portionforming a reducing chamber 1n which the oXid charge is heated by the gases rising from the smelting chamber and -is -reduced or partly reduced by the carbon in the charge, from'which reducing chamber it passes directlyfinto the smelting-chamber, the molten metal passing through the slag and collecting on the hearth.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that a masonry shaft 1 is supported on plates 15 Specification of Letters Paten-t. Application filed April 1, 1908.v N o. 424,507'. l

tory material which may beprovided' with struction, or th'ese water cooling devices may be entirelyomittedl l y Arranged d 'rectly beneath the bosh, is a smeltingcharnber 4 whose roof extends outfrom the bottom ofthe wall 42, and then chamber. In'other 'words the roof ofthe flange. about "t'he lowerv end` of vthe bjosh. Free space is thusprovided Vupon the exroof of the smeltingchamber,` vthus providmanner hereinafter described. This roof -is also/composed of. refractory material land Ais `preferably-waterj cooled. 'Extending downwardly through the yroof are the'velectrodes 7,1 whichv may be vertically arranged ,orinthe side" wall of the smelting chamber vis provided aslag opening 10, which is slightly belowthe level of the'top of the electrode 6.

what lower than elsewhere. The outer petioned as to. determine'to a certain extent or multiphase alternating current,

although adirect current may be used.

trodes to the other. j

When polyphase. currents-are' used, the central electrode in the hearth is connected wardly, preferably in 'a lhorizontal direction theroofmay be surrounded by a bushing I3 VPatented Marl 2 6, 1912.

carried bya ser-iesof columns `onverg`- ing downwardly ffrom the bottom of the shaft l 1s azbosh, having walls 2, of v'refrac-'U a watergjacket 11,-.or- .with separate water -cnolers-as 1s common in blast furnace condownwardly` to the hearth of'` the'.` vsrnelting vsrneltin-g chamber extends outwardlyasv a vterior sides of 'the' wall-2 fora'ccess tothe v lingfor thezlocation of the electrodes inthe sov be substituted for this singlefelectrode. In

A- metaltapopeningS isalso provided, the hearth at the metal tapping side being somelripheral portion of theQhearth forms an annular conduit, the size of which is so propor. 100* the quantity of currentcarried by the molten metal4 contained 'therein' under the Y slag. I prefer, to use either asingle phase vIf a single phase current be used, the outer electrodes are connected to one side of the` circuit, and the central electrode or elec-- the hearth. By the combination ofa bosh with the subjacent smelting fchamber, the' to the neutral'point of the.systein,the cur- ,rent then flowing fromthe outer electrodes to the central one, but also between'the outer electrodes themselves."

Figs. f3 and 4 show another type of vfurnace suitable"for. reducing,` notfonly iron .'ore b utores of copper and lead-not re- A`peratures.

quiring. for their reduction 'such high temshown in Figs. l and 2 in that no electrodes are used inthehearth, which is preferably of the shape shown. rlhe masonry shaft 31,

is supported on pillars 39, and is provided with a bosh 32, which may be of watercooled metal with or-4 Without a refractory lining, or may be made of refractory material alone.v Through the upper Wall or rooft 33 of the smelting chamber project the elec-- l trodes 37, surrounded'by refractory nonyeo conducting bushings 33to prevent short-cin.y

cuiting ofthe current through the metal jackets. A metal tap hole 38,*and a slag tap hole 4() vare provided as shown. Furnaces of this type are preferably operated by alternating currents. While the furnace shown is rectangular in cross section, it may, of course, be round or polygonal in shape.

The mode of operation isas follows: The

iron or other oxid ore, mixed with the required proportion of carbon and a suitable flux is fed into the furnace through the charging bell 12, as in iron blast furnaces. As the charge descends it is heated and reduced by the ascending gas. .At the lower end of the shaft itspassage into the smelting chamber is restricted by the bosh. Thecharge, resting partly upon the bosh and partly upon the hearth, is held in close proximity to the slag bath,into` which the"'elec` trodes project, the layer of slag actingas a resistor-,the passage ofthe current-through the slag and metal producing the heat` requisite'for the reduction of the' charge, Yand the melting ofthe reduced metal. The molten metal Hows downward through the slag into charge is prevented from falling into the smelting zone, and thus displacin the slag bath. It is therefore possible tokep under control the level and depth of theslagbath by tapping from time to time thegslag orv metal.

charge is prevented from displacing the slag By Vthis arrangement, further, the

recarburization of the metal by the carbon This furnace differsv rom that electrode. y However, the lelectrodes, which` are longitudinally adjustable, may extend more o r less` into the slag bath as desired.v y

The temperature ofthe smelting Zone isfoontrolled by varying the voltagebetween the electrodes as] described in my application,

ser. No;397,567,medoctoberji,1907,- By

maintainingf'the slag bath atfthe proper temperature, and of Athe'proper composition, the quality of the product may be easily and accurately controlled. If an arc. isjdesired,

this can readily be obtained by raising the 'electrode out of the slag bath to the proper distance. 4through the metal tap hole 8. If additional heat is desired, electrodes 7 may bgeinserted TheI molten metal is Vtapped through the wallsA of the bosh, and used in combination with those in. the hearth below.

Iclaim: l. In an` electric furnace, the combination with a heating chamber, of ashaft having a' bosh at thelower end thereofcommunicating with `said heating chamber through the top thereof, said chamber being organized to provide a free space between the charge and the top of said heating' chamber when the charge isintroduced into the lower portion' of the shaft and into said Aheating chamber, and electrodes extending through the wall of said chamber into said free space.

2. An electric furnace comprising a shaftl the lower' end-of which is constricted to form` a b'osh, a heating chamber in which said bosh terminates centrally of said chamber, -said chamber having roof walls extend- 'ing'outwardly fromsaid bosh, whereby the charge is prevented from filling said chamber, and electrodes extending through said roof into the free space withinsaid chamc ber.

`3. lIn an electric furnace, the combin'ation with a shaft having a bosh at the lower end thereof, a heating chamber into which said bosh opens, said heating chamber having a. roof extending outwardly as a flange about the lower end of said bosh to provide a free l space between the charge and said roofand electrodes extending downwardly throughV the roof into said free space, whereby the heat generatedby the current from the elec? tro-des may be transmitted ydirectly to the charge in the shaft. e A' 4. An electric'furnacecomprising an elec-` i Atric smelting chamberA provided with elec- -trodes and a shaft arranged on the said chamber and communicating' with the same, the shaft'being formed to expand upward and t-he smelting'chamber to expand down ward from the. part through which said chamber and fthe shaft communicate ,'with" 'each other, the interior of the smelting chamber being soformed that .free 'space4 always exists between the walls ofsaid chamber and the charge,and the electrodes being arranged to project from the walls of said chamber through said free'space.

5. In an electric furnace, the combination of a shafthaving a bosh Aat the 'lower end thereof, a smelting chamber beneath the bosh, electrodes vin the walls of the smelting chamber, a hearth upwardly inclined toward with contracted throat, said arch present-ing, in respect to the horizontal, an angle lessthan the angle of repose of the charge passing downwardly from the contracted throat, whereby a gas chamber is formed between the charge and said arched roof, insulated electrodes crossing 4said gas chamber, and

a furnace surmounting the, crucible and consisting of a stack with bosh communicating with the contracted throat in t-he roof of the Crucible. 7 An electro-metallurgical furnace Comwith contracted throat, said arch presenting an angle less than the angle of repose vof thecharge passing downwardly from said throat, so as to form a gas chamber between sulated electrodes crossing said gas chain ber, and a furnace surmounting the Crucible and consisting of a stack with bosh communicating with the contracted th roof of the Crucible.

In testimonyvwhe'reof, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

'e ALBERT E. GREENE.

Witnesses: f

GEO. E. GENETT,

CHAs. H. Po'l'rER.

roat in the risinff a Crucible havino anv arched roofu .the charge and the roof of the Crucible, in- 

